Christian Agrarians and the Crusade for Rural Community
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts BAPTIZED WITH THE SOIL: CHRISTIAN AGRARIANS AND THE CRUSADE FOR RURAL COMMUNITY, 1910-1970 A Dissertation in History by Kevin M. Lowe © 2013 Kevin M. Lowe Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2013 ii The dissertation of Kevin M. Lowe was reviewed and approved* by the following: Philip Jenkins Emeritus Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities Dissertation Adviser Co-Chair of Committee David G. Atwill Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies Graduate Program Director Co-Chair of Committee Kathryn Merkel-Hess McDonald Assistant Professor of History and Asian Studies Carolyn Sachs Professor of Rural Sociology Head of Women’s Studies Department *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii Abstract This dissertation is a history of the Christian commitment to rural America. Throughout the early and middle twentieth century, a broad Christian agrarian movement preached the importance of maintaining rural communities based on small-scale, family farm agriculture. This dissertation focuses on mainline Protestants, who were the most active and most visible of all Christian agrarians, although they have been the least studied. Christian agrarians argued that saving rural communities was critical for the nation’s future, because to live in the country, and especially to farm, was the most moral way to live. They believed that small rural communities were the best route to justice and opportunity for the nation as a whole. Protestant agrarians worked closely with the power of government, especially through state universities and cooperative extension, to train ministers and missionaries who could champion farming and rural life. Their belief that farming was an act of cooperation with God in creation led Christian agrarians to become leaders in the soil conservation movement, inspiring an environmentalist awareness and a language of stewardship decades before the environmental movement. iv Table of Contents List of Figures...............................................................................................................vi Acknowledgments........................................................................................................vii Introduction - Consecrating the American Countryside .............................................1 What is Christian Agrarianism?...................................................................................5 Farms, Cities, and the Struggle for American Identity..................................................7 Possible Solutions to the Rural Crisis ........................................................................11 Agricultural Missions ................................................................................................15 The Holy Earth..........................................................................................................16 The Abundant Life ....................................................................................................18 Catholicism in the Countryside..................................................................................20 Mainline Protestantism and the Nation’s Future.........................................................22 Historiography...........................................................................................................28 Chapter Outline .........................................................................................................33 Chapter 1 - Working in God’s Country: The American Agricultural Missionary, 1910-1970.....................................................................................................................36 Rural Work in the Denominations..............................................................................38 Interdenominational Cooperation...............................................................................41 Training the Rural Pastor: Missionaries and Ministers in Town and Country .............47 Summer Schools for Rural Pastors.............................................................................49 Cooperation Between Seminaries and State Universities............................................57 The Cornell University School for Missionaries ........................................................61 Other Missionary Schools..........................................................................................69 Missionary Training in the Government.....................................................................72 Rural Home Missions: The Methodist Church ...........................................................74 Rural Home Missions to African Americans..............................................................79 Conclusion ................................................................................................................83 Chapter 2 - Spiritual Efficiency: Rethinking the Rural Church Experience, 1925- 1970..............................................................................................................................84 Parish Consolidation and the Larger Parish................................................................85 Larger Parishes in Practice.........................................................................................89 Other Strategies for Church Cooperation .................................................................100 The Spirituality of the Rural Church........................................................................102 Rural Life Sunday ...................................................................................................104 The Ideas of Rural Life Sunday ...............................................................................105 Worshipping on Rural Life Sunday..........................................................................110 Rural Life Sunday and 4-H......................................................................................113 Harvest Home Sunday.............................................................................................119 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................123 v Chapter 3 - Co-Workers in the Kingdom: The Lord’s Acre Movement, 1930-1970 ....................................................................................................................................125 Farming and the Depression ....................................................................................126 The Lord’s Acre ......................................................................................................128 The Lord’s Acre Begins...........................................................................................130 James G.K. McClure and the Farmers Federation ....................................................132 The Federation’s Religious Department...................................................................134 The Plan..................................................................................................................137 The Lord’s Acre in Practice.....................................................................................139 Praise and Criticism for the Lord’s Acre..................................................................145 Promoting the Movement ........................................................................................150 Growth and Inclusivity ............................................................................................158 The Lord’s Acre Looks Abroad ...............................................................................161 Spiritual Benefits of the Lord’s Acre .......................................................................163 Spiritual Benefits: Living Biblically ........................................................................164 Spiritual Benefits: Communal Participation.............................................................170 Spiritual Benefits: Christian Character.....................................................................171 Spiritual Benefits: Partnerships with God ................................................................176 Building the Kingdom .............................................................................................179 Passing the Torch ....................................................................................................185 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................187 Chapter 4 - The Gospel of the Soil: Soil Conservation, Stewardship, and Christian Environmentalism, 1930-1970...................................................................................190 Christianity and Soil Conservation...........................................................................194 Soil Conservation in the Federal Government..........................................................198 The Eleventh Commandment...................................................................................201 Preaching Soil Conservation....................................................................................203 The National Council of Churches and Agricultural Conservation ...........................215 The NCC and Stewardship.......................................................................................217